United States v. HallUnited States v. Hall
Defendant-Appellant Orlando Cordia Hall challenges his conviction and sentence for kidnapping resulting in death, conspiring to kidnap, traveling in interstate commerce to promote possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Orlando Cordia Hall, along with Bruce Webster and Marvin Holloway, ran a marijuana trafficking enterprise in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. They purchased marijuana in varying amounts in the
On September 21, 1994, Holloway drove Hall from Pine Bluff to the airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Hall took a flight to Dallas, Texas to engage in a drug transaction. Beckley and Hall‘s brother, Demetrius Hall (D. Hall), picked Hall up at the airport. Later that day, Hall and Beckley met two local drug dealers, Stanfield Vitalis and Neil Rene (N. Rene), at a car wash and gave them $4700 for the purchase of marijuana. Later that day, Beckley and D. Hall returned to the car wash to pick up the marijuana, but Vitalis and N. Rene never appeared. Later, when Hall got in touch with Vitalis and N. Rene by telephone, they claimed that they had been robbed of the $4700. Using the telephone number that Beckley had used to contact Vitalis and N. Rene, Hall procured an address at the Polo Run Apartments in Arlington, Texas from a friend who worked for the telephone company. Hall, D. Hall, and Beckley began conducting surveillance at the address and saw Vitalis and N. Rene exit an apartment and approach the same car that they had driven to the car wash, which they claimed was stolen from them along with Hall‘s $4700. Hall therefore deduced that Vitalis and N. Rene had lied to him about being robbed.
On September 24, 1994, Hall contacted Holloway and had him drive Webster to the Little Rock Airport. From there, Webster flew to Dallas. That evening, Hall, D. Hall, Beckley, and
Webster and D. Hall went to the front door of the apartment and knocked. The occupant of the apartment, Lisa Rene, N. Rene‘s sixteen-year-old sister, refused to let them in and called her sister and 911. After Webster unsuccessfully attempted to kick in the door, he and D. Hall went around to a sliding glass door on the patio and saw that Lisa Rene was on the telephone. D. Hall shattered the glass door with his baseball bat, Webster entered the apartment, tackled Lisa Rene, and dragged her to the car. Hall and Beckley had returned to the car when they heard the sound of breaking glass. Webster forced Lisa Rene onto the floorboard of the car, and the group drove to Ross‘s apartment in Irving, Texas. Once there, they exited the Cadillac and forced Lisa Rene into the backseat of Beckley‘s car. Hall got in the backseat as well. Beckley got in the driver‘s seat, and Webster got in the front passenger seat. The group then drove off again. During the drive, Hall raped Lisa Rene and forced her to perform oral sex on him. The group later returned to Ross‘s apartment.
From there, Beckley, D. Hall, and Webster drove Lisa Rene to Pine Bluff. Hall remained in Irving and flew back to Arkansas the next day. Once Beckley, D. Hall, and Webster reached Pine
Hall and Holloway arrived at the motel room on Sunday morning, September 25, 1994. They went into the bathroom with Lisa Rene for approximately fifteen to twenty minutes. When Hall and Holloway came out of the bathroom, Hall told Beckley, “She know too much.” Hall, Holloway, and Webster then left the motel.
Later that afternoon, Hall and Webster went to Byrd Lake Park and dug a grave. That same evening, Hall, Webster, and Beckley took Lisa Rene to Byrd Lake Park, but could not find the grave site in the dark. They then returned to the motel room. In the early morning of Monday, September 26, 1994, Beckley and D. Hall moved Lisa Rene to another motel because they believed that the security guard at the first motel was growing suspicious.
Later the same morning, Webster, Hall, and Beckley again drove Lisa Rene to Byrd Lake Park. Lisa Rene‘s eyes were covered by a mask. Hall and Webster led the way to the grave site, with Beckley guiding Lisa Rene by the shoulders. At the grave site, Hall turned Lisa Rene‘s back toward the grave and placed a sheet over her head. He then hit her in the head with a shovel. Lisa Rene screamed and started running. Beckley grabbed her, and they both fell down. Beckley then hit Lisa Rene in the head twice with the shovel and handed it to Hall. Webster and Hall then began taking turns hitting her with the shovel. Webster then
On September 29, 1994, an arrest warrant issued out of the City of Arlington for Hall, D. Hall, and Beckley for Lisa Rene‘s kidnapping. D. Hall, Beckley, and Webster were subsequently arrested. On September 30, 1994, Hall surrendered to Pine Bluff authorities in the presence of his attorney. On the advice of counsel, he did not give a statement at the time of his arrest, but indicated that he would talk with law enforcement agents after he was transported to Texas. On October 5, 1994, following his transfer to the Arlington County jail, Hall gave a written statement to FBI and Arlington County officials in which he substantially implicated himself in the kidnapping and murder.
On October 26, 1994, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issuеd a criminal complaint charging Hall, D. Hall, Webster, and Beckley with kidnapping in violation of
The jury returned a verdict of guilty as to counts 1, 2, 3, and 6. After the penalty phase of the trial, the jury returned a recommendation that a sentence of death be imposed. The district court sentenced Hall to death on count 1, life imprisonment on count 2, sixty months imprisonment on count 3 to run concurrently with the life sentence imposed on count 2, and sixty months imprisonment on count 6 to run consecutively to the sentences imposed on counts 2 and 3. Hall filed a timely notice of appeal.
II. DISCUSSION
Hall appeals his judgment of conviction and sentence on the following grounds:
- The district court‘s failure to allow Hall to allocute before the jury violated his right to due process, violated Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and was an abuse of discretion
under the evidentiary standards governing the penalty phase of a capital trial under the FDPA. - The district court violated Hall‘s Fifth and Eighth Amendment rights by conditioning the admission of psychiatric testimony in mitigation of punishment upon Hall‘s submission to a government psychiatric examination prior to conviction without restricting the government‘s access to the results of the examination until after the guilt phase of trial.
- The district court abused its discretion by admitting certain materials and testimony into evidence because they were unfairly prejudicial.
- The admission of evidence regarding unadjudicated offenses during the penalty phase and a lack of a jury instruction requiring the jury to apply some burden of proof to this evidence rendered the death sentence unreliable.
- The admission of nontestimonial victim impact statements during the penalty phase violated Hall‘s Sixth Amendment right of confrontation, due process, and the FDPA‘s evidentiary standards.
- The district court‘s rejection of defense challenges for cause to impaired and biased venirepersons denied Hall due process, an impartial jury, and his statutory right to free
exercise of peremptory challenges. - The jury‘s failure to consider the circumstances surrounding Hall‘s upbringing as a mitigating factor was clearly erroneous and requires vacation of his death sentence.
- Several of the aggravating factors submitted to the jury were unconstitutionally vague, overbroad, and duplicative.
- The district court‘s denial оf Hall‘s motions for continuance denied Hall his rights to due process and effective assistance of counsel under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.
- The district court erred in denying Hall‘s request to poll the jury regarding a news report and debate that aired during penalty-phase deliberations.
- The district court erred in denying Hall‘s motion to suppress his oral and written statements as violative of his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights as well as applicable federal statutes and rules.
We address each of these issues in turn.
A. Allocution
Hall first contends that the district court‘s denial of his request to make an unsworn statement of remorse to the jury during the penalty phase of his trial constitutes reversible
Hall contends that Rule 32(c)(3)(C) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure afforded him the right to make an unsworn statement of remorse before the jury. Rule 32(c)(3)(C) provides that, “[b]efore imposing sentence, the court must . . . address the defendant personally and determine whether the defendant wishes to make a statement and to present any information in mitigation of the sentence.”
In support of his contention that Rule 32(c)(3)(C) creates a right to make an unsworn statement before the jury in capital cases, Hall relies upon the following language from
Notwithstanding rule 32(c) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, when a defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offense under section 3591, no presentence report shall be prepared. At the sentencing hearing, information may be presented as to any matter relevant to the sentence . . . .
We need not decide whether § 3593 was intended to displace
Hall responds that this interpretation of
Furthermore, § 3593(c) counsels against construing
At the sentencing hearing, information may be presented as to any matter relevant to the sentence, including any mitigating or aggravating factor permitted or required to be considered under section 3592. Information presented may include the trial transcript and exhibits if the hearing is held before a jury or judge not present during the trial, or at the trial judge‘s discretion. The defendant may present any
information relevant to a mitigating factor. The government may present any information relevant to an aggravating factor for which notice has been provided . . . . Information is admissible regardless of its admissibility under the rules governing admission of evidence at criminal trials except that information may be excluded if its probative value is outweighed by the danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury.
Furthermore, both Hall and the government concede that § 3593 authorized Hall to make a sworn statement of remorse that would have been subject to cross-examination.6 Construing
2. Common-Law Right of Allocution
Hall next contends that, even if
At common law, a felony defendant had a right to have the court formally inquire “‘what he had to say why judgment should not be given against him.‘” Paul W. Barrett, Allocution, 9 MO. L. REV. 121 (1944) (quoting Rex & Regina v. Geary, 2 Salk. 630 (K.B. 1689-1712); see also State v. Green, 443 S.E.2d 14, 42 (N.C. 1994). The right of allocution developed in a time in which the common-law judge had no discretion as to the punishment for felonies; as such, the point of the question to the defendant was not to elicit mitigating information. See Barrett, supra, at 120-21. Rather, the question was designed to afford the defendant a formal opportunity to present certain strictly-defined common-law grounds requiring the avoidance or delay of sentencing, including a claim that the defendant was not the person convicted, had the benefit of clergy, was insane, or was pregnant. See id.; 1 JOSEPH CHITTY, THE CRIMINAL LAW 698, 761-62 (1841); 3 CHARLES ALAN WRIGHT, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 525, at 82 (2d ed. 1982) (“The common law for many centuries has recognized the right of a defendant to ‘allocution,’ a formal statement by the defendant of any legal reason why he could not be sentenced.“).
Since the mid-nineteenth century, however, modern
Suffice it to say, Hall stands on shaky ground when he asserts that a general common-law right exists entitling a capital defendant to address the sentencing jury unsworn and not subject to cross-examination. Moreover, even if such a common-
Whatever force the common law of allocution has with respect to other criminal cases, the General Assembly has abrogated that law and replaced it with statutory law devised specifically for first degree murder cases. The legislature has provided that a sentencing hearing is required at which evidence may be presented to the jury, or the judge as the case may be. The court is given discretion to determine what evidence will be received as relevant and admissible on the question of the sentence to be imposed. Following the presentation of evidence, counsel are permitted to argue to the sentencing body for or against the death sentence.
It is apparent from the structure provided that this evidentiary hearing is intended to serve as part of the “truth-determining process” to enable the sentencer to discern and apply the facts bearing on the determination of the appropriate sentence. Implicit in the fact that the statute assigns to the defendant the burden of proving mitigating circumstances by a preponderance of evidence is the understanding that the jury is to asses[s] the evidence for credibility. It must be left open for the Commonwealth to challenge the veracity of facts asserted and the credibility of the person asserting those facts, whether that person is a witness or the defendant. We find no reason in law or
logic why the defendant‘s presentation of evidence in support of his claim that life imprisonment is the appropriate sentence should be shielded from the testing for truthfulness and reliability that is accomplished by cross-examination.
Abu-Jamal, 555 A.2d at 857-58. We find this analysis persuasive in construing the FDPA. We therefore conclude that Hall possessed no federal common-law right to allocute before the jury.
3. Allocution as an Independent Constitutional Right
Hall next asserts that he possesses a constitutional right to allocute before the jury. The Supreme Court has never squarely addressed the issue of whether a defendant who affirmatively requests the opportunity to allocute, either before the court or the jury, is denied due process by the trial court‘s refusal to grant the request. In Hill v. United States, 368 U.S. 424 (1962), the Court held that a district court‘s failure to expressly ask a defendant represented by counsel whether he wished to make a statement before imposition of sentence was not an error of constitutional dimension and therefore provided no basis for a § 2255 collateral attack upon the defendant‘s sentence. See id. at 428. The court expressly declined to consider whether the district court‘s denial of an affirmative request by a defendant to make a statement prior to the imposition of sentence would rise to the level of constitutional error. See id. at 429; see also McGautha v. California, 402 U.S. 183, 219 n.22 (1971) (noting that whether a trial court‘s denial of a defendant‘s request to plead for mercy rises to the level of
We conclude that a criminal defendant in a capital case does not possess a constitutional right to make an unsworn statement of remorse before the jury that is not subject to cross-examination. In Green v. United States, 365 U.S. 301 (1961), Justice Frankfurter observed that the ultimate value of allocution as a procedural right in the context of modern criminal procedure rests in the fact that “[t]he most persuasive counsel may not be able to speak for a defendant as the defendant might, with halting eloquence, speak for himself.” Id. at 304. Neither the government nor Hall contends that Hall would not have been permitted to testify at the sentencing hearing and thereby in his own words introduce “any information relevant to a mitigating factor.”
4. Denial of Procedural Parity
Hall next contends that, even if the Constitution does not vest criminal defendants with an independent, per se right to make an unsworn statement in allocution before the jury, the district court‘s denial of his request to make such a statement was nonetheless unconstitutional because the district court allowed the government to introduce similarly nontestimonial victim impact statements. Hall contends that such disparate treatment constitutes an unconstitutional disruption of “the balance of forces between the accused and his accuser.” Wardius v. Oregon, 412 U.S. 470, 474 (1973). We disagree.
The constitutionally required balance between prosecution and defense is “a balance between the total advantages enjoyed by each side rather than an insistence on symmetry at every stage in the process.” Tyson v. Trigg, 50 F.3d 436, 441 (7th Cir. 1995). In this case, we conclude that no significant imbalance existed in the total advantages afforded Hall and the government at sentencing. First, contrary to Hall‘s contention, the district court actually allowed him to present evidence of a type similar to the victim impact statements. Specifically, the district
Second, Agnes Rene, Lisa Rene‘s mother and the author of one of the three victim impact statements introduced at sentencing, testified during the sentencing hearing regarding the impact of the loss of her daughter. Hall declined to cross-examine her. This provides a strong indication that Hall did not consider cross-examination of the makers of the victim impact statements to be vital--or, for that matter, even beneficial--to his defense.
Third, the district court‘s refusal to allow Hall to make an unsworn statement that was not subject to cross-examination constituted at best a marginal procedural disadvantage. Had Hall taken the stand and offered limited testimony in substance equivalent to his proffered statement in allocution, he would have waived his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination only as to matters reasonably related to the contents of that statement. See Brown v. United States, 356 U.S. 148, 156 (1958) (holding that a criminal defendant “could not take the stand to testify in her own behalf and also claim the right to be free from cross-examination on matters raised by her own testimony on direct examination” (emphasis added)); United States v. Hernandez, 646 F.2d 970, 979 (5th Cir. Unit B June 1981) (noting that, in cross-examining a criminal defendant who chooses to testify, “[t]he government‘s questions must be reasonably related to the subjects covered by the defendant‘s direct testimony.” (internal quotation marks omitted)).
A great deal of the type of information that the government would have likely sought to admit to impeach Hall‘s testimony or directly refute his claims of remorse and acceptance of responsibility was admitted as direct evidence of aggravating factors during the sentencing hearing, particularly the nonstatutory factor that “Hall constitutes a future danger to the lives and safety of other persons.” Specifically, the government offered evidence of Hall‘s prior convictions and unadjudicated offenses. Additionally, the government introduced the testimony of Larry Nichols, one of Hall‘s fellow inmates at the correctional facility where Hall was incarcerated prior to trial. Nichols testified that Hall joked and bragged about repeatedly raping Lisa Rene. He also testified that Hall told him that, given the opportunity, he would kill Steven Beckley because, were it not for Beckley‘s assistance, the government would have had no case against him. Additionally, Nichols testified that Hall informed him of his plans to attempt to escape from the correctional facility in which they were incarcerated by taking his lawyer hostage using a “shank,” a homemade knife. Hall has pointed to no information that would have been rendered relevant by virtue of his offering testimony similar in substance to his proffered statement in allocution which the government did not
5. Violation of § 3593‘s Evidentiary Standards
Hall next argues that the district court abused its discretion in declining to allow him to make an unsworn statement of remorse and plea for mercy before the jury. Section 3593(c) provides that information need not be admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence in order to be admissible at a hearing conducted pursuant to the statute. However, the statute provides that the district court may exclude information “if its probative value is outweighed by the dаnger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury.”
Assuming that an unsworn statement such as the one Hall proffered is theoretically admissible during an FDPA sentencing hearing,8 we conclude that the district court did not abuse its
B. Conditioning the Presentation of Psychiatric Evidence on Submission to a Psychiatric Examination
Hall next contends that the district court erred in conditioning his right to present psychiatric evidence in mitigation of punishment upon his submission to a government psychiatric examination prior to trial. Hall first argues that the district court could not properly compel him to undergo a government psychiatric examination as a condition upon his being allowed to introduce psychiatric evidence at sentencing because doing so unconstitutionally forced him to choose between exercising his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and his Eighth Amendment right to present evidence in mitigation of punishment. We disagree.
This court has long recognized that “a defendant who puts his mental state at issue with psychological evidence may not
Hall correctly notes that he did not waive his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination merely by giving notice of his intention to submit expert psychiatric testimony at the sentencing hearing. See Brown v. Butler, 876 F.2d 427, 430 (5th Cir. 1989) (holding that the state could not introduce expert testimony based upon a previous psychological examination of the defendant where the defendant announced an intention to offer expert psychological evidence but never actually did so). However, had he actually offered such evidence, the district court would not have violated Hall‘s privilege against self-incrimination by admitting psychiatric testimony subsequently offered by the government. Hall‘s claim that the district court could not condition his right to introduce expert psychiatric evidence based upon out-of-court examination of Hall upon his submission to a government psychiatric examination therefore lacks merit. In the same sense that Hall could not himself testify at the sentencing hearing regarding his remorse or acceptance of responsibility and then refuse cross-examinаtion on this issue, he could not offer expert psychiatric testimony based
Hall, along with the American Orthopsychiatric Association and the American Association on Mental Retardation as amici curiae, argues in the alternative that, in order to adequately safeguard his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-
The Supreme Court has held that, when a defendant claims that the government has sought to introduce the fruits of a coerced confession, the defendant “must go forward with specific evidence demonstrating taint,” upon which the government “has the ultimate burden of persuasion to show that its evidence is untainted.” Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. 165, 183 (1969); see also Nardone v. United States, 308 U.S. 338, 341 (1939) (“[T]he trial judge must give opportunity, however closely confined, to the accused to prove that a substantial portion of the case against him was a fruit of the poisonous tree. This leaves ample opportunity to the Government to convince the trial court that its proof had an independent origin.“); United States v. Cherry, 759 F.2d 1196, 1207 (5th Cir. 1985) (“It is firmly established that, once the defendant goes forward with specific evidence demonstrating taint, the government has the final burden of persuasion to show that the evidence is untainted.“); 5 WAYNE R. LAFAVE, SEARCH AND SEIZURE § 11.2(b), at 45 (3d ed. 1996).
We are convinced that this evidentiary framework provides all of the protection against the introduction of the fruits of
The only specific safeguard that Hall requested in his motion opposing the government‘s request for a psychiatric examination and oral argument on this motion was the sealing of the results of the examination until the penalty phase of his trial. Hall has cited several cases in which district courts have imposed such a safeguard. See United States v. Beckford, 962 F. Supp. 748, 761 (E.D. Va. 1997); United States v. Haworth, 942 F. Supp. 1406, 1408-09 (D.N.M. 1996); United States v. Vest, 905 F. Supp. 651, 654 (W.D. Mo. 1995). While we acknowledge that such a rule is doubtless beneficial to defendants and that it likely advances interests of judicial economy by avoiding litigation over whether particular pieces of evidence that the government seeks to admit prior to the defendant‘s offering psychiatric evidence were derived from the government psychiatric examination, we nonetheless conclude that such a rule is not constitutionally mandated.
No statement made by the defendant in the course of any examination provided for by this rule, whether the examination be with or without the consent of the defendant, no testimony by the expert based upon such statement, and no other fruits of the statement shall be admitted in evidence against the defendant in any criminal proceeding except on an issue respecting mental condition on which the defendant has introduced testimony.
Id. Noticeably absent from the rule is any requirement that the government be denied access to the results of the examination until after the defendant actually introduces testimony regarding his mental condition. Rather, the rule merely precludes the government from introducing as evidence the results of the examination or their fruits until after the defendant actually places his sanity in issue. Yet the rule has consistently been held to comport with the Fifth Amendment. See, e.g., United States v. Lewis, 53 F.3d 29, 35 n.9 (4th Cir. 1995); United States v. Stockwell, 743 F.2d 123, 127 (2d Cir. 1984) (“[W]hile we do not wish to encourage the practice of requiring defendants to submit to a psychiatric examination in the prosecutor‘s presence (either in person or through the use of a tape
C. Admission of Unduly Prejudicial Evidence
Hall next claims that the district court abused its discretion by admitting certain evidence which he claims was irrelevant and highly prejudicial. Specifically, he complains of the district court‘s admission of (1) graphic photographs of Lisa Rene‘s body; (2) a videotape depicting a walk through Byrd Lake Park to the grave site, surveillance of the area where Lisa Rene‘s burned clothing was recovered, and an examination of the grave site during the exhumation of Lisa Rene‘s body; and (3) testimony by Hall‘s girlfriend in which she claimed to have been robbed at gunpoint while purchasing drugs for Hall. We review a district court‘s evidentiary rulings for an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Torres, 114 F.3d 520, 525-26 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 316 (1997).
1. Photographs
Hall claims that the district court abused its discretion by admitting photographs of Lisa Rene‘s body in the grave and after its removal during the guilt phase of his trial. Hall first argues that the photographs were rendered legally irrelevant by the fact that he offered to stipulate to the identity of the victim and her cause of death. Additionally, Hall complains that
We note as an initial matter that the photographs were relevant to Lisa Rene‘s identity and the cause of her death, and Hall‘s offer to stipulate to these facts did not render them irrelevant. The advisory committee notes to Rule 401 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which establishes the definition of legal relevance, speak directly to this issue:
The fact to which the evidence is directed need not be in dispute. While situations will arise which call for the exclusion of evidence offered to prove a point conceded by the opponent, the ruling should be made on the basis of such considerations as waste of time and undue prejudice (see Rule 403), rather than under any general requirement that evidence is admissible only if directed to matters in dispute.
In United States v. McRae, 593 F.2d 700 (5th Cir. 1979), this court addressed a Rule 403 challenge to the district court‘s admission in a murder trial of numerous photographs of the victim and the death scene which the district court had described as “gross, distasteful and disturbing.” See id. at 707. One of these photographs was “a view of [the victim‘s] corpse, clothed in her bloody garments, bent forward so as to display an exit wound in the back of her skull produced by part of [the defendant‘s] dum-dum bullet, which exploded in her brain“; another was “a front view of [the victim‘s] body, seated in the chair where she died, her left eye disfigured by the bullet‘s entry and her head broken by its force.” Id. In holding that the admission of these photographs did not violate Rule 403, we observed,
Id. We see no basis for distinguishing between the photographs at issue in McRae and those at issue here. We therefore conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the probative value of the photographs was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice or by concerns regarding the needless presentation of cumulative evidence. See United States v. Rezaq, 134 F.3d 1121, 1138 (D.C. Cir. 1998) (upholding a district court‘s admission of an autopsy photograph showing the removal of a bullet from a hijacking victim‘s head even though the photograph was only probative of the fact that the victim was shot in the head, a “point [that] did not especially need elucidation“); United States v. Analla, 975 F.2d 119, 125-26 (4th Cir. 1992) (holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting photographs depicting two gunshot wounds to a robbery victim‘s head and another photograph depicting an individual murdered during the robbery lying in a pool of blood); United States v. Bowers, 660 F.2d 527, 529-30 (5th Cir. Unit B Sept. 1981) (holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting a color photograph of a child‘s lacerated heart to prove cause of death and noting “that the mere fact that appellant stipulated with the government as to the cause of death did not preclude the
2. Videotape
Hall next contends that the district court abused its discretion in admitting during the penalty phase of his trial a videotape depicting a walk through the park in which Lisa Rene was killed, the area where her burned cloths were recovered, and the exhumation of her body. He further complains that the district court erred by allowing the jury to view the tape during deliberations when they had not previously viewed it in open court.
We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the videotape‘s “probative value [was not] outweighed by the danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury.”
Even if we were to conclude that the district court abused its discretion in admitting the videotape, such error was harmless. An erroneous evidentiary ruling constitutes harmless
We conclude that the videotape could not have had a substantial and injurious effect or influence on the jury‘s sentencing recommendation because, as Hall concedes, the contents of the tape were largely cumulative of the testimony and photographs admitted during the guilt phase of Hall‘s trial. See United States v. Allie, 978 F.2d 1401, 1409 (5th Cir. 1992) (stating that the improper admission of evidence that is merely cumulative constitutes harmless error); 3A CHARLES ALAN WRIGHT, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 854, at 311 (2d ed. 1982) (“Error in the admission of evidence is harmless if the facts shown by that evidence are already before the jury through other properly-admitted evidence.“).
As to Hall‘s claim that the district court improperly allowed the jury to view the videotape during deliberations even though the jury had not previously viewed the tape in open court, our review is sharply circumscribed by the scope of Hall‘s objection when the district court admitted the tape into
Under the plain error standard, we may reverse only if “(1) there was error (2) that was clear and obvious and (3) that affected [Hall‘s] substantial rights.” United States v. Dupre, 117 F.3d 810, 817 (5th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 857 (1998); see also United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 731-36 (1993). “Normally, although perhaps not in every case, the defendant must make a specific showing of prejudice to satisfy the ‘affecting substantial rights’ prong of [the plain error inquiry].” Olano, 507 U.S. at 735. Even when these criteria are satisfied, we should exercise our discretion to reverse only if the error “seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Id. at 732 (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted); see also Dupre, 117 F.3d at 817.
Assuming that the district court erred in allowing the jury to view the videotape only during deliberations, we cannot say that such error was open or obvious nor that it affected Hall‘s substantial rights. The only prejudice that Hall alleges
3. Testimony Regarding Robbery of Hall‘s Girlfriend
Hall next complains of the district court‘s admission of the testimony of LaTonya Anders, Hall‘s girlfriend, that she was robbed while in Houston attempting to purchase crack cocaine on Hall‘s behalf while he was on parole and that he continued to send her to purchase drugs after these incidents. This testimony was generally relevant to Hall‘s future dangerousness in that (1) it demonstrated the lengths to which Hall would go to continue his drug trafficking activities and (2) it demonstrated that he was an organizer and leader of criminal activity. While the
D. Evidence of Unadjudicated Offenses
Hall contends that the district court improperly admitted evidence of unadjudicated offenses during the penalty phase. Specifically, Hall complains of the district court‘s permitting the government to introduce the testimony of Erma Willis and her son, Geren Willis, that, in May 1994, Hall waited in a car outside their home with a gun on the dashboard while Hall‘s cousin forced another individual to attempt to obtain money from Ms. Willis. David Baker, who at that time was employed as an Arkansas parole officer, testified that Ms. Willis reported the incident to him and that he forwarded the information to Hall‘s parole officer in Pine Bluff. Additionally, Hall complains of the testimony of Larry Nichols, an inmate in the same correctional facility where Hall was held prior to his trial, regarding Hall‘s plans to escape from prison and his threats against Beckley, discussed in Part II.A.4, supra.
Hall complains that introduction of the above testimony violated due process and the Eighth Amendment‘s “heightened ‘need for reliability in the determination that death is the
To the extent that Hall alleges that evidence of prior unadjudicated offenses is per se inadmissible on constitutional grounds, his claim lacks merit. See Harris v. Johnson, 81 F.3d 535, 541 (5th Cir. 1996) (“We previously have held that the use of evidence of unadjudicated extraneous offenses, at the sentencing phase of Texas capital murder trials, does not implicate constitutional concerns.“); Williams v. Lynaugh, 814 F.2d 205, 208 (5th Cir. 1987) (holding “that the admission of
We are likewise unpersuaded by Hall‘s contention that the absence of an instruction regarding the evidentiary standard by which the government must prove the existence of unadjudicated offenses and other conduct that it advances in support of an aggravating factor constitutes reversible error. As we understand it, Hall‘s argument appears to be that, when the government offers evidence of an unadjudicated offense in support of an aggravating factor, the jury must be instructed that it cannot consider this evidence in determining whether the government has carried its burden of proving the aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt unless it has first determined that the evidence establishes by some quantum of evidence that the unadjudicated offense occurred.12 Hall has offered no legal support for this proposition, and the only precedent that we have found militates against it. See Harris, 81 F.3d at 541 (“Fully aware that the due process clause clearly requires that for conviction the state must prove the elements of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, neither we nor the Supreme Court has stated that a similar burden exists regarding the admission of evidence of unadjudicated offenses in a capital case
In any event, Hall neither proffered a proposed jury instruction informing thе jury of the existence of the government‘s purported threshold evidentiary burden regarding unadjudicated offenses nor objected to the absence of such an instruction. He therefore did not preserve any error regarding the absence of this instruction. See
E. Victim Impact Statements
Hall next contends that the district court committed reversible error by admitting three victim impact statements from Lisa Rene‘s relatives during the sentencing hearing. In this regard, Hall contends that (1) the victim impact statements introduced an arbitrary element into the jury‘s sentencing recommendation, thereby violating the Eighth Amendment and (2) admission of the statements violated his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. We address each of these arguments in turn.
Hall contends that the victim impact statements “injected emotional considerations that had no relevant purpose in the proceedings” and thereby violated the Eighth Amendment. We disagree.
In Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991), the Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment erects no per se barrier to the admission of victim impact evidence during the sentencing phase of a capital trial. See id. at 827. In so doing, the Court observed that “a State may properly conclude that for the jury to assess meaningfully the defendant‘s moral culpability and blameworthiness, it should have before it at the sentencing phase evidence of the specific harm caused by the defendant.” Id. at 825. The Court went on to observe that “[t]he State has a legitimate interest in counteracting the mitigating evidence which the defendant is entitled to put in, by reminding the sentencer that just as the murderer should be considered as an individual, so too the victim is an individual whose death represents a unique loss to society and in particular to his family.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). The Court thus concluded that “[t]here is no reason to treat [victim impact] evidence differently than other relevant evidence is treated.” Id. at 827. Victim impact evidence and argument based upon it therefore does not, by virtue of its substance, abridge a defendant‘s constitutional rights unless it “is so unduly prejudicial that it renders the trial fundamentally unfair.” Id. at 825; see also Castillo v. Johnson, 141 F.3d 218, 224 (5th Cir. 1998).
The victim impact statements admitted here were not so unduly prejudicial that they rendered the trial fundamentally unfair. By and large, the statements did nothing more than generally describe Lisa Rene‘s character and her aspirations of becoming a doctor as well as the pain that her family members felt as a result of her senseless death. Hall specifically complains of the following statement in the victim impact statement of Nicholson Rene, Lisa Rene‘s father:
I feel I have nothing to look forward to[] . . . . If I was going to live twenty more years it will proba[b]ly be ten years. The loss of my daughter is killing me slowly inside. Since after the death of my daughter, I became a strong drinker.
We are confident that “this brief statement did not inflame [the jury‘s] passions more than did the facts of the crime.” Payne, 501 U.S. at 832 (O‘Connor, J., concurring). As such, the contents of the victim impact statements did not render Hall‘s trial fundamentally unfair.
2. Sixth Amendment Right to Confrontation
Hall next argues that the admission of nontestimonial victim impact statements violated his Sixth Amendment “right physically to face those who testify against him, and the right to conduct cross-examination.” Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, 480 U.S. 39, 51 (1987). It is well established in this circuit that a criminal defendant‘s Sixth Amendment right of confrontation is sharply circumscribed in non-capital sentencing proceedings. See United States v. Rodriguez, 897 F.2d 1324, 1328 (5th Cir. 1990). However, this circuit has not determined whether similar restrictions on a defendant‘s right to confrontation exist at a capital sentencing hearing.
In Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. 241 (1949), the Supreme Court held that the imposition of a death sentence “based upon information supplied by witnesses with whom the accused had not been confronted and as to whom he had no opportunity for cross-examination or rebuttal” did not violate the defendant‘s right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment where the defendant had not requested the opportunity for cross-examination or otherwise impugned the accuracy of the statements. See id. at 243-44, 252. However, since its decision in Williams, the Supreme Court has “held that many of the protections available to a defendant at a criminal trial also are available at a sentencing hearing . . . in a capital case.”13 Bullington v. Missouri, 451 U.S. 430, 446 (1981). The Supreme Court‘s more recent jurisprudence regarding capital sentencing proceedings has led one circuit to conclude that the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation applies with full force in capital sentencing
Confrontation Clause errors, like other trial errors, are subject to harmless-error analysis. See Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 684 (1986); United States v. Ismoila, 100 F.3d 380, 391 (5th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 117 S. Ct. 1712, and cert. denied, 117 S. Ct. 1858 (1997). Such an error is harmless if it appears “beyond a reasonable doubt that the error complained of did not contribute to the verdict obtained.” Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24 (1967). Assuming that the admission of the victim impact statements constituted a violation of Hall‘s
F. Rejection of Cause Challenges to Venirepersons
Hall claims that the district court committed reversible error by denying several of his challenges for cause to certain venirepersons, thereby forcing him to utilize his peremptory challenges to keep these individuals off the jury. He further alleges that this error was of constitutional dimension because one juror against whom he asserted a challenge for cause actually served on the jury.
The Supreme Court has observed that a trial court‘s “predominant function in determining juror bias involves credibility findings whose basis cannot be easily discerned from an appellate record.” Witt, 469 U.S. at 429; see also Fuller v. Johnson, 114 F.3d 491, 500 (5th Cir.) (“A trial judge‘s finding of bias during voir dire is a determination of fact . . . .“), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 399 (1997). As such, “deference must be paid to the trial judge who sees and hears the [prospective] juror.” Witt, 469 U.S. at 426. “We will only second-guess the court‘s decision that a juror is unbiased if there is an abuse of discretion.” United States v. Flores, 63 F.3d 1342, 1357 (5th Cir. 1995).
At this point, it is important to distinguish between the types of claims that Hall has asserted with respect to the district court‘s denial of his challenges for cause. Hall has
1. Sixth Amendment Right to Impartial Jury
In Ross v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 81 (1987), a direct criminal appeal from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, the petitioner claimed that the trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury, made applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause, by forcing him to expend one of his peremptory challenges to remove a venireperson who properly should have been removed for cause. Id. at 88. The Supreme Court rejected this argument because, although the trial court erroneously failed to strike the chаllenged venireperson for cause, he “was in fact removed and did not sit.” Id. The Court acknowledged that the petitioner “was undoubtedly required to exercise a peremptory challenge to cure the trial court‘s error,” id., but nonetheless concluded that this fact of itself did not establish a constitutional violation:
[W]e reject the notion that the loss of a peremptory challenge constitutes a violation of the constitutional right to an impartial jury. We have long recognized that peremptory challenges are not of constitutional dimension. They are a means to achieve the end of an impartial jury. So long as the jury that sits is impartial, the fact that the defendant had to use a peremptory challenge to achieve that result does not
mean the Sixth Amendment was violated. We conclude that no violation of petitioner‘s right to an impartial jury occurred.
Id. (citations omitted); see also Herman v. Johnson, 98 F.3d 171, 174 (5th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 117 S. Ct. 1262 (1997); United States v. Prati, 861 F.2d 82, 87 (5th Cir. 1988).
Ross makes clear that, in disposing of Hall‘s Sixth Amendment claim, our inquiry is limited to an evaluation of the impartiality of the venirepersons who actually served on Hall‘s jury. Hall has claimed that only one of his jurors, Stacey Leigh Donaldson, was not impartial. Therefore, our determination of whether Hall was denied his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury begins and ends with a determination of whether the district court abused its discretion in determining that Donaldson did not possess “views [that] would prevent or substantially impair the performance of [her] duties as a juror in accordance with [her] instructions and [her] oath.” Witt, 469 U.S. at 424 (internal quotation marks omitted). We conclude that it did not.
Hall claims that the district court should have struck Donaldson for cause solely because, when asked whether she could consider the fact that a defendant grew up in a dysfunctional, abusive family as a mitigating factor, she responded as follows:
I don‘t know if I could or not. I would say my family was not exactly perfect, you know, and might to a degree be dysfunctional, but that doesn‘t give me the right to go out and commit violent acts.
This statement, particularly when taken in the context of the rest of Donaldson‘s voir dire indicates nothing more than that the degree of weight that Donaldson would afford family
2. Statutory Right to Free Exercise of Peremptory Challenges and Due Process
We have observed that, “[w]hile peremptory challenges, or the number provided by
Hall contends that the district court impaired his free exercise of his peremptory challenges by forcing him to use seven of his peremptory challenges to exclude venirepersons whom the district court should have excused for cause. These venirepersons included Diane Schwartz George, Susan Norman, Vicki Lane, Judith Dallinger, Joyce McGough, Linda Faye Palmer, and Randal Davis. We consider Hall‘s arguments with respect to each challenged venireperson in turn.15
Hall claims that Diane Schwartz George should have been struck for cause because (1) she stated in her juror questionnaire that she supported the death penalty because she believed it saved taxpayer money and that, as a taxpayer, she did not “appreciate paying the[] ‘bills‘” of “certain criminals“; (2) during voir dire, she stated that the fact that a defendant had an abusive childhood was “not something that would have much bearing” on her sentencing recommendation; and (3) when asked whether she could impose a life sentence if the government proved all of the aggravating factors as to which it gave Hall notice and the defendant established no mitigating factors, she responded that, “[w]ithout thinking about that more, I think I would have to say no,” thereby saddling Hall with the burden of proving through mitigating factors that a sentence of death was inappropriate. We disagree.
First, while George indicated that, as a general matter, she favored the existence of the death penalty in part because of financial considerations, she also expressly stated that she would be able to base her decision on whether or not to impose the death penalty in this case solely upon the evidence presented during the trial. The district court could thus properly conclude that George was capable of “set[ting] aside [her] own predilections in deference to the rule of law.” Flores, 63 F.3d at 1356.
Second, George indicated that she could consider evidence of
Third, George‘s statement that, “without thinking about it more,” she believed that, in the absence of mitigating factors, she could not consider life imprisonment as an option if the government proved an aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt might, considered in a vacuum, indicate bias. However, George previously stated in response to a question by the government
b. Susan Norman
Hall claims that Susan Norman should have been struck for cause because (1) she stated during voir dire that, “[i]f a person takes another life in malice without feeling or remorse for such act, that person I believe should be punished to the full extent of the law“; (2) when asked whether a dysfunctional or physically abusive family would militate against a death sentence, she responded, “I believe people can overcome things like that“; and (3) she indicated that she would “lean towards the death penalty” if the government proved one or more aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt and the defense offered no mitigating factors. We find these arguments unpersuasive.
c. Vicki Lane
Hall claims that Vicki Lane should have been struck for cause because (1) she demonstrated general hostility to the prospect of life imprisonment for convicted murderers when she stated on a jury questionnaire, “I believe life without parole is a waste and a burden, financially and morally, to our state“; and (2) she indicated that she did not consider the existence of
During voir dire, Lane made abundantly clear that she considered herself fully capable of weighing aggravating and mitigating factors in determining an appropriate sentence and that the fact that a defendant had committed premeditated murder would not close her mind to the possibility of a life sentence. She also stated that she understood that financial considerations regarding keeping a defendant in prison for the rest of his life could not enter her consideration of the appropriate sentence and that she would follow the court‘s instructions fully in serving as a juror. Moreover, she stated that, upon reaching a verdict of guilty, she would remain equally open to all sentencing options. Additionally, the court engaged in an extensive discussion with Lane regarding whether she could consider the existence of equally culpable defendants who did not receive the death penalty as a mitigating factor, and she ultimately stated that she could consider such evidence. In this regard, the district court concluded as follows:
It doesn‘t seem unreasonable, looking at this totally in the abstract, that equally culpable defendants would strike some people as not a very strong mitigating factor. I think she ended up saying she would consider it.
Given that the district court had the opportunity to observe Lane‘s demeanor face-to-face, we decline to second-guess its determination that she was willing to give consideration to the existence of equally culpable defendants who would not receive
[The venireperson‘s] answers do not raise the primary concern of Morgan; that is, a juror who would automatically recommend a penalty of death regardless of any mitigating evidence. The statement that she would not consider two of the statutory mitigating factors was made in response to defense counsel‘s questions and in ignorance of the mandates of
§ 848 . Jurors are not expected to know the law prior to being properly instructed. More important, [the venireperson] stated that she would follow the district court‘s instructions in arriving at her decision. The district court thus did not abuse its discretion in finding that [the venireperson] would be able to follow the court‘s instructions.
Id. We likewise conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in failing to strike Lane for cause in spite of her initial statement that she could not consider the existence of equally culpable defendants who did not receive the death penalty as a mitigating factor.
Hall claims that Judith Dallinger should have been struck for cause because she had been exposed to pretrial publicity regarding the murder and indicated on her juror questionnaire form that she had developed an opinion that “the defendant and his associates committed the crime.” During voir dire, Dallinger exhibited some equivocation regarding her ability to completely set aside the pretrial media coverage of the murder to which she had been exposed. However, when questioned by the court, Dallinger indicated that, while she was not certain that she could completely forget what she had heard in the media about the crime, she could prevent that exposure from playing a role in her decision-making process. She further agreed absolutely that the media could be unreliable and that a verdict must be based solely upon the evidence at the trial. She further indicated that a year had passed since she had seen media coverage of the murder and that she could not remember the specifics of the crime or the names of the alleged perpetrators. Based upon the entire record, the district court drew the following conclusions regarding Dallinger‘s fitness as a juror in response to Hall‘s challenge for cause:
I overrule the objection, and I want to tell you mainly why. I‘m convinced that when she told me that shе saw that as her job to put [her prior exposure to media coverage and her opinions] out of her mind for the purpose of making a decision, she saw that as her job and she would do it, I think that was the truest expression. And I do think that given enough questioning any one of us would -- could be led to doubt that.
I‘ve got to make up my mind based on conflicting answers and use my own credibility assessments. Some I haven‘t felt this way about. This one I do. I think she would follow the law, and I think she would be able to disconnect herself from what she may have heard or seen about the case outside the courtroom. She said as much, and I believe her.
“A person is not automatically rendered unqualified to serve as a juror merely because he has been exposed to media coverage of the charged crime. The issue becomes whether exposure to media publicity will preclude the individual from returning a verdict based solely on the person‘s application of the law as stated to the evidence presented.” Bell v. Lynaugh, 828 F.2d 1085, 1093 (5th Cir. 1987); see also Flores, 63 F.3d at 1357. We decline to second-guess the district court‘s determination, made after a face-to-face credibility assessment and thorough questioning, that Dallinger could faithfully follow the court‘s instructions and reach a verdict based solely upon the evidence presented at trial. See Bell, 828 F.2d at 1093 (holding that the trial court properly declined to strike a venireperson for cause where, “[w]hen asked whether [a] newspaper article [discussing the crime at issue in the trial] had influenced her, she stated ‘I guess he is more guilty, if I have to choose [between guilty and not guilty,]’ and ‘I felt like he was guilty by the paper,‘” but responded negatively when asked by defense counsel, “‘Do you believe that based on what you have heard, or at least the impression that‘s left of what you have heard, which is natural, that that would, or could, affect some of your deliberations over issues of fact?‘” (alterations in original)).
Hall claims that Joyce McGough should have been struck for cause because (1) she demonstrated an extremely negative attitude toward life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and stated that she would not impose such a sentence unless the defense proved to her that it was appropriate, (2) she demonstrated discomfort with the notion of acquitting a defendant who was probably guilty even if she entertained a reasonable doubt about guilt, and (3) she could not consider evidence of a defendant‘s abusive childhood as mitigating. We disagree.
During the government‘s voir dire, McGough stated that, although she did not favor life imprisonment without the possibility of release as a potential sentence, she could nonetheless place her personal feelings regarding the sentence aside and consider it if instructed to do so by the court. She likewise unequivocally stated that, if she were instructed that she could return a guilty verdict only upon proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, she would follow this instruction. McGough also noted that, when she previously served as а juror in a civil case, she was able to return a verdict that did not comport with her own beliefs regarding the fairness of the controlling rule of law but that was nonetheless dictated by the instructions given by the court. The district court also asked McGough whether she could consider the option of life imprisonment without possibility of release if instructed to do so without the interference of her personal feelings regarding the sentence, and
As to mitigating factors, while McGough initially indicated that she did not consider the factors of equally culpable defendants who did not receive the death penalty or an abusive or dysfunctional family upbringing to be mitigating, upon further examination, she stated that she could in good faith follow the court‘s instructions and consider such factors as mitigating if instructed to do so. Much like Lane, McGough‘s testimony indicates nothing more than that she did not consider these mitigating factors to be especially compelling; this fact did not render her an impartial juror. See Eddings, 455 U.S. at 114-15; Chandler, 996 F.2d at 1103. We therefore conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that McGough lacked any biases that would substantially impair her ability to fulfill her oath as a juror or follow the court‘s instructions.
f. Linda Faye Palmer
Hall claims that Linda Faye Palmer should have been struck for cause because she stated in her juror questionnaire, and reiterated during voir dire, that capital punishment was appropriate for “intentional murder and for repeat violent criminals,” that she favored more frequent executions, and that she considered the lethal injection “too good/easy for people convicted of capital murder.” We find this argument unpersuasive.
During voir dire, Palmer stated that she would be able to
g. Randal Davis
Hall claims that Randal Davis should have been struck for cause because (1) he stated in his juror questionnaire that he believed that the death penalty was an appropriate punishment for several non-homicide offenses and was appropriate for all kidnappings resulting in death and (2) he indicated during voir dire that he would have difficulty giving mitigating weight to the existence of equally culpable defendants who did not receive the death penalty. However, we conclude that the record evinces no abuse of discretion on the part of the district court in declining to strike Davis for cause.
Davis assured the court during voir dire that he could follow its instructions and “fairly and sincerely in good faith consider the aggravating factors and weigh those against the mitigating factors and decide whether the aggravating factors were sufficient to justify a sentence of death.” Further, Dаvis expressly stated that he could give “good faith, adult consideration” to the mitigating factor of the existence of
Because we have concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to strike the venirepersons of whom Hall now complains for cause, the district court did not abridge Hall‘s statutory right to free exercise of his peremptory challenges. We therefore necessarily reject Hall‘s claim that the district court violated his right to due process by arbitrarily abridging his right to free exercise of his peremptory challenges.
G. Jurors’ Failure to Find Abusive Childhood as a Mitigating Factor
Hall next complains of the fact that only one of the twelve jurors found the circumstances surrounding his upbringing to be a mitigating factor. He contends that the conclusion of the remaining eleven jurors that the circumstances surrounding his upbringing did not constitute a factor militating against a death sentence was clearly erroneous. In support of this contention, he notes that his mother, Betty Hall, and his older sister, Cassandra Hall, offered uncontroverted testimony that Hall‘s father, A.J. Hall, beat Hall‘s mother throughout their marriage, which ended in divorce when Hall was fifteen.
As an initial matter, we question whether the jurors’
Assuming, arguendo, that we possess the authority to review the jurors’ special findings regarding mitigating factors, we must accept the jurors’ factual determinations unless no reasonable juror could have arrived at the conclusion reached by the juror in question. Cf. United States v. Robichaux, 995 F.2d 565, 569 (5th Cir. 1993) (noting that, in evaluating a claim that a jury‘s guilty verdict in a criminal trial is supported by insufficient evidence, the court “inquires whether a reasonable juror could find the evidence establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt” (internal quotation marks omitted)). “[D]etermining the weight and credibility of the evidence is within the sole province of the jury.” United States v. Garza, 990 F.2d 171, 173 (5th Cir. 1993) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also United States v. Kelley, 140 F.3d 596, 607 (5th Cir. 1998).
In support of his claim that he experienced an upbringing that militated against the imposition of the death penalty, Hall offered only the testimony of two of his family members, which the jury was free to believe or disbelieve. Additionally, this testimony indicated that Hall was not himself the object of his father‘s abuse and that, throughout his childhood, Hall attended school and church and was properly housed, fed, and clothed. We cannot conclude that no reasonable juror could conclude that Hall failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that he experienced a childhood that rendered him in some degree less deserving of the death penalty than he might otherwise be.
H. Constitutionality of Aggravating Factors
Hall contends that several of the statutory and nonstatutory aggravating factors that the district court submitted to the jury to evaluate in determining whether to recommend a death sentence were unconstitutionally vague, overbroad, or duplicative. Specifically, Hall challenges the following factors:
(1) the statutory aggravating factor that “the defendant committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse of the victim,” set forth in
18 U.S.C. § 3592(c)(6) ;(2) the statutory aggravating factor that the death
occurred during the commission of another offense, set forth in § 3592(c)(1) ; and(3) the nonstatutory aggravating factor of “the effect of the instant offense on the family of Lisa Rene.”
We consider each of these arguments in turn.
1. Offense Committed in an Especially Heinous, Cruel, or Depraved Manner
During the penalty phase, one of the aggravating factors about which the district court instructed the jury was that Hall “committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse of the victim, Lisa Rene.” This statutory factor was accompanied by the following instruction:
To establish that the defendant killed the victim in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner, the government must prove that the killing involved either torture or serious physical abuse to the victim. The terms “heinous, cruel, or depraved” are stated in the disjunctive: any one of them individually may constitute an aggravating circumstance warranting imposition of the death penalty. “Heinous” means extremely wicked or shockingly evil, where the killing was accompanied by such additional acts of torture or serious physical abuse of the victim as set apart from other killings. “Cruel” means that the defendant intended to inflict pain upon the victim in addition to killing the victim. “Depraved” means that the defendant relished the killing or showed indifference to the suffering of the victim, as evidenced by torture or serious physical abuse of the victim.
“Torture” includes mental as well as physical abuse of the victim. In either case, the victim must have been conscious of the abuse at the time it was inflicted. Furthermore, the defendant must have specifically intended to inflict severe mental or physical pain or suffering upon the victim, apart from killing the victim. “Serious physical abuse” means a
significant or considerable amount of injury or damage to the victim‘s body which involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the funсtion of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. Serious physical abuse--unlike torture--may be inflicted either before or after death and does not require that the victim be conscious of the abuse at the time it was inflicted. However, the defendant must have specifically intended the abuse apart from the killing. Pertinent factors in determining whether a killing was especially heinous, cruel, or depraved include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following: infliction of gratuitous violence upon the victim above and beyond that necessary to commit the killing; needless mutilation of the victim‘s body; senselessness of the killing; and helplessness of the victim. The word “especially” should be given its ordinary, everyday meaning of being highly or unusually great, distinctive, peculiar, particular, or significant.
Hall contends that the “especially heinous, cruel, or depraved” aggravating factor is unconstitutionally vague, overbroad, and improperly allowed the jury to consider the conduct of his coconspirators in determining whether to impose the death penalty. We disagree.
First, Hall‘s vagueness challenge is foreclosed by United States v. Jones, 132 F.3d 232 (5th Cir. 1998). In that case, this court held that a
Hall next claims that the instructions accompanying this aggravating factor rendered it unconstitutionally overbroad. Specifically, Hall complains that the district court‘s definition of “serious physical abuse” would allow the jury to conclude that the killing was committed in an “especially heinous, cruel, or depraved” manner based solely upon the fact that Hall killed Lisa Rene. Hall bases this argument upon the fact that the district court defined “serious physical abuse” to include “a significant or considerable amount of injury or damage to the victim‘s body, which involves a substantial risk of death,” a definition that includes any killing.
Hall‘s argument ignores the remainder of the instruction, which makes clear that “serious physical injury” contemplates something more than an amount of injury necessary to cause death. Specifically, the instruction provides that, in order for a killing to be especially heinous, cruel, or depraved on the basis of an infliction of physical abuse, “the defendant must have specifically intended the abuse apart from the killing.” Further, the instruction lists a number of factors for the jury to consider in determining whether the offense was especially heinous, cruel, or depraved, including “infliction of gratuitous violence upon the victim above and beyond that necessary to commit the killing” and “needless mutilation of the victim‘s body.”
Finally, Hall claims that the district court‘s instructions invited the jury to consider the conduct of Hall‘s coconspirators throughout the course of the kidnapping in concluding that the killing was “especially heinous, cruel, or depraved.” However, the wording of the aggravating factor itself focuses upon the actions of Hall; it provides that the jury must conclude that ”the defendant committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner.” The instructions accompanying the aggravating factor removed any doubt that the jury was required
Hall finally argues that the “especially heinous, cruel, or depraved” aggravating factor was unconstitutionally duplicative of the factor that the death occurred during the course of a kidnapping. As the government points out, however, the fact that the murder occurred during the course of a kidnapping does not of itself indicate that the murder was “especially heinous, cruel, or depraved.” Likewise, a murder not committed in the course of a kidnapping may be “especially heinous, cruel, or depraved.” Moreover, the fact that Hall raped Lisa Rene prior to killing her was unnecessary to the jury‘s conclusion that the death occurred during the course of the kidnapping, but was clearly germane to the determination that Hall committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner. Hall has therefore failed to demonstrate any constitutional infirmity in the “especially heinous, cruel, or depraved” statutory aggravating factor.
Hall claims that the statutory aggravating factor that the death occurred during the commission of another offense, set forth in
In Lowenfield v. Phelps, 484 U.S. 231 (1988), the petitioner was found guilty of capital murder on the basis of a Louisiana statute that defined capital murder to include scenarios in which “‘the offender has a specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm upon more than one person.‘” Id. at 242-43 (quoting
The use of “aggravating circumstances” is not an end in itself, but a means of genuinely narrowing the class of death-eligible persons and thereby channeling the jury‘s discretion. We see no reason why this narrowing function may not be performed by jury findings at either the sentencing phase of the trial or the guilt phase.
. . .
Here, the “narrowing function” was performed by the jury at the guilt phase when it found defendant guilty of three counts of murder under the provision that “the offender has a specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm upon more than one person.” The fact that the sentencing jury is also required to find the existence of an aggravating circumstance in addition is no part of the constitutionally required narrowing process, and so the fact that the aggravating circumstance duplicated one of the elements of the crime does not make this sentence constitutionally infirm. There is no question but that the Louisiana scheme narrows the class of death-eligible murderers and then at the sentencing phase allows for the consideration of mitigating circumstances and the exercise of discretion. The Constitution requires no more.
Hall attempts to distinguish Lowenfield on the ground that Louisiana defined capital murder narrowly enough that the defendant was rendered death-eligible based solely upon his conviction. He notes that, in finding the petitioner guilty of capital murder, the jury in that case found that the petitioner killed more than one person with the specific intent to do so, and this circumstance alone was sufficient to render him eligible for the death penalty. Hall notes that conviction of the capital offense established by
While we agree with Hall that his conviction for violation of
(A) intentionally killed [Lisa Rene];
(B) intentionally inflicted serious bodily injury that resulted in the death of [Lisa Rene];
(C) intentionally participated in an act, contemplating that the life of a person would be taken or intending that lethal force would be used in connection with a person, other than one of the participants in the offense, and [Lisa Rene] died as a direct result of the act; or
(D) intentionally and specifically engaged in an act of violence, knowing that the act created a grave risk of death to a person, other than one of the participants in the offense, such that participation in the act constituted a reckless disregard for human life and [Lisa Rene] died as a direct result of the act.
3. Effect on Lisa Rene‘s Family
Hall next argues that the nonstatutory aggravating factor of “the effect of the instant offense on Lisa Rene‘s family” was unconstitutionally overbroad and vague and that it was unauthorized by the FDPA. We need not reach this issue because we conclude that any error in submitting this aggravating factor to the jury was harmless.
Assuming that the nonstatutory aggravating factor of the effect of the instant offense on Lisa Rene‘s family was unconstitutionally overbroad or vague or that it was unauthorized by the FDPA, we conclude that the district court‘s error in submitting it to the jury was harmless. In addition to its determination that the effect of the offense on Lisa Rene‘s family constituted an aggravating factor, the jury also unanimously found the following aggravating factors: (1) that Hall intentionally killed Lisa Rene during the course of a kidnapping; (2) that he killed Lisa Rene in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner; and (3) that Hall constitutes a future danger to the lives and safety of other persons. During the trial, the jury heard extensive evidence indicating that, during the course of the kidnapping, Hall and his coconspirators raped Lisa Rene, kept her tied up in a motel room for two days, forced her on two occasions to walk barefooted and masked through the woods to the site of her murder, brutally beat her into unconsciousness with a shovel, and buried her in a grave where she suffocated. Weighing against these facts and the aggravating factors that they prompted the jury to find unanimously were four mitigating factors: (1) “[a]nother defendant or defendants, equally culpable in the crime, will not be punished by death“; (2) “[t]he age of the defendant at the time of the offense“; (3) “[t]he circumstances surrounding the defendant‘s upbringing“; and (4) “[a]ny other aspect of the defendant‘s character or
This conclusion is bolstered by this court‘s recent decision in Jones, 132 F.3d at 232. In that case, the court concluded that two of the four aggravating factors found by the jury--“[the victim‘s] personal characteristics and the effect of the instant offense on [her] family” and “[the victim‘s] young age, her slight stature, her background, and her unfamiliarity with [the area where the murder took place]“--were unconstitutionally vague, overbroad, and duplicative. Id. at 250-51. This left two valid aggravating factors substantially similar to two of the factors that the jury found unanimously in this case and that we have previously held pass constitutional muster: “[t]he defendant . . . caused the death of [the victim], or injury resulting in the death of [the victim], which occurred during the commission of the offense of Kidnapping” and “[t]he defendant . . . committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel, and depraved manner in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse to [the victim].” Id. at 248-50. Weighing against these aggravating factors were ten mitigating factors, many of which
Hall claims that the district court denied him his rights to due process and the effective assistance of counsel under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments by denying his motion for a continuance to allow his counsel an additional thirty days to prepare for trial. Proper evaluation of this claim requires the construction of a brief chronology of events that transpired from the time of the issuance of the complaint in this case to the time of trial.
A federal complaint in this matter issued against Hall on October 26, 1994, and Hall was appointed counsel two days later. The district court initially set the trial of Hall and his codefendants for January 3, 1995. A superseding indictment containing capital charges was returned on November 22, 1994, and Hall entered a not guilty plea to the superseding indictment on November 28, 1994. On December 8, 1994, Hall filed a motion for a continuance, which the district court granted without setting a new trial date.
On January 6, 1995, the district court held a status conference at which the government indicated that it would likely seek the death penalty against Hall. The court also indicated a preliminary trial date of July 17, 1995. On February 23, 1995, the government filed its notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Hall.
On March 9, 1995, the district court granted a sealed motion by Hall‘s appointed counsel to withdraw from the case. On March
On August 2, 1995, Hall filed a motion for a continuance requesting an additional thirty days for trial preparation on the ground that one of his attorneys, Jeffrey Kearney, was scheduled for several trials prior to Hall‘s October trial date. The district court denied the motion on August 10, 1995. Hall unsuccessfully reurged his motion for a continuance immediately prior to jury selection and twice during the penalty phase. The district court allowed Hall to proceed with jury selection with one attorney present while the other continued to prepare for trial.
We review a district court‘s denial of a motion for a continuance for an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Davis, 61 F.3d 291, 298 (5th Cir. 1995). A district court‘s denial of a continuance will warrant reversal only upon a showing that the denial caused the defendant to “suffer[] serious prejudice.” United States v. Dupre, 117 F.3d 810, 823 (5th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 857 (1998); see also United States v. Scott, 48 F.3d 1389, 1393 (5th Cir. 1995); United States v. Castro, 15 F.3d 417, 423 (5th Cir. 1994).
(1) the amount of preparation time available, (2) whether the defendant took advantage of the time available, (3) the likelihood of prejudice from a denial, (4) the availability of discovery from the prosecution, and (5) the complexity of the case.
In this case, the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that a thirty-day continuance for trial preparation was not warranted. First, Hall‘s second team of attorneys had over six months in which to prepare for trial. Second, while we acknowledge that the FDPA creates a somewhat complex procedural framework and is of fairly recent vintage, our review of the record provides no indication that this was a case of exceptional complexity, particularly given that Hall put on no evidence at the guilt phase of his trial and focused solely on the penalty phase. Third, while Hall claims that the government‘s discovery in the case was voluminous, he makes no contention that open and complete discovery was not forthcoming. Fourth, the district court could properly conclude that prejudice was unlikely to result from denial of the continuance, given that Hall‘s motion for a continuance indicated no scheduling conflicts on the part of Michael Logan Ware, Hall‘s other appointed counsel. Further, while Hall‘s motion for a continuance stated that his counsel lacked adequate time to investigate the case given that many potential witnesses were in Arkansas, on appeal, he merely makes a general claim that the refusal to grant the
J. Failure to Poll the Jury Regarding Mid-Trial News Broadcast
Hall claims that the district court abused its discretion in declining to poll the jury regarding their possible exposure to a television news broadcast during their deliberations in the penalty phase of Hall‘s trial. The jury began deliberations in the penalty phase on Friday, November 3, 1995. That evening, the district court released the jury for the weekend, and deliberations resumed the following Monday. After the jury returned to its deliberations on Monday, November 6, 1995, Hall moved the district court to either poll the jury or declare a mistrial on the basis of a news broadcast aired on a local station the night before. The broadcast, in its entirety approximately three minutes in length, consisted of a thirty-second segment stating merely that the jury had found Hall guilty but had not yet completed deliberations regarding punishment followed by a brief debate between commentators regarding the
We review a district court‘s decision not to conduct a voir dire of the jury regarding their possible exposure to mid-trial publicity for an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Rasco, 123 F.3d 222, 230 (5th Cir. 1997) (“‘It is for the trial judge to decide at the threshold whether news accounts are actually prejudicial; whether the jurors were probably exposed to the publicity; and whether the jurors would be sufficiently influenced by bench instructions alone to disregard the publicity.‘” (quoting Gordon v. United States, 438 F.2d 858, 873 (5th Cir. 1971))), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 868 (1998). In United States v. Herring, 568 F.2d 1099 (5th Cir. 1978), this court held that the district court should grant a voir dire of the jury on the basis of mid-trial publicity if “serious questions of possible prejudice” exist. Id. at 1104. The court went on to hold that the determination of whether such questions exist requires a two-part inquiry:
A court must first look at the nature of the news material in question to determine whether it is innately prejudicial; factors such as the timing of the media coverage and its possible effects on legal defenses are to be considered. . . . Second, the court must ascertain the likelihood that the publicity has in fact reached the jury. The prominence of the media coverage and the nature and number of warnings against viewing the coverage become relevant at this stage of the inquiry.
United States v. Manzella, 782 F.2d 533, 542 (5th Cir. 1986) (citing Herring, 568 F.2d at 1104-05).
Throughout the guilt phase of Hall‘s trial, the district court repeatedly admonished the jury to avoid media coverage of the trial, and it reemphasized these instructions during the penalty phase. It also provided the jurors with redacted newspapers. Moreover, prior to releasing the jury for the weekend during its penalty-phase deliberations, the court again gave the jurors a stern warning regarding the avoidance of media coverage: “[T]here will be media coverage, and you‘ll have to be very vigilant to avoid newspapers and television and radio, news coverage . . . .” Given the court‘s admonition, it is unlikely that any of the jurors saw any portion of the broadcast in question. Moreover, any juror who happened to see the beginning
K. Admissibility of Hall‘s Custodial Statement
Hall contends that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress a custodial statement that he made to state and local law enforcement officials subsequent to his arrest. He argues that admission of the statement violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights as well as
1. Factual Background
On September 29, 1994, a Texas court issued a warrant for the arrest of Hall and two of his coconspirators for the
On September 30, 1994, Hall, accompanied by retained counsel, surrendered to law enforcement authorities in El Dorado, Arkansas. Hall was taken before an Arkansas magistrate, who made a determination that probable cause existed to hold Hall on the Texas charges. Hall waived extradition and agreed to return to Texas to face thе state aggravated kidnapping charges.
That same day, Hall spoke with Special Agent Garrett Floyd of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Detective Jim Ford of the Arlington Police Department in the presence of his retained counsel. Before speaking with Hall, Ford read Hall his Miranda18 rights. Floyd testified at the suppression hearing that Hall told Ford and Floyd that he wished to talk to them in Texas. Floyd also testified that as he, Ford, and Hall‘s retained counsel left the room, Hall told Floyd, “It wasn‘t supposed to be that way. I‘ll talk to you about it when I get to Texas.” Floyd also testified that after he escorted Hall back to the holding facility at the jail, Hall stated, “I‘ll tell you all about it when I get to Texas. Come and see me.”
Hall was transported to Texas on October 4, 1994. On October 5, 1994, he was arraigned on the state kidnapping charge before a Texas municipal court judge. That afternoon, Ford and
2. Constitutional Claims
Hall first claims that his custodial statement to Floyd and Ford was inadmissible as substantive evidence against him at his trial because Floyd and Ford took the statement in violation of his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to counsel. We disagree.
In Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477 (1981), the Supreme Court held that, once the accused asserts his Fifth Amendment right to counsel and thereby “expresse[s] his desire to deal with the police only through counsel, [he] is not subject to further interrogation by the authorities until counsel has been made available to him, unless the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police.” Id. at 484-85. In Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U.S. 675 (1988), the Court made clear that the Edwards rule is not offense specific. See id. at 682-84; see also McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. 171, 177 (1991); United States v. Carpenter, 963 F.2d 736, 739 (5th Cir. 1992). Once a suspect invokes his Fifth Amendment right to
In Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625 (1986), the Supreme Court held that the Edwards prophylactic rule applies when a defendant invokes his Sixth Amendment right to counsel at an arraignment and law enforcement officials subsequently initiate custodial interrogation of the defendant prior to providing him an opportunity to consult with counsel. See id. at 636 (”Edwards is grounded in the understanding that the assertion of the right to counsel is a significant event and that additional safeguards are necessary when the accused asks for counsel. We conclude that the assertion is no less significant, and the need for additional safeguards no less clear, when the request for counsel is made at an arraignment and when the basis for the claim is the Sixth Amendment. We thus hold that, if police initiate interrogation after a defendant‘s assertion, at an arraignment or similar proceeding, of his right to counsel, any waiver of the defendant‘s right to counsel for that police-initiated interrogation is invalid.” (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted)).
Unlike the Fifth Amendment right to counsel, the Sixth Amendment right is offense specific; an invocation of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel applies only with respect to the
We accept, merely for the sake of argument, the highly dubious assumption that, by surrendering to law enforcement officials in the presence of counsel, Hall unequivocally invoked his Fifth Amendment right to counsel. We likewise assume that, at the point of his surrender, Hall had also invoked his Sixth Amendment right to counsel with respect to the Texas aggravated kidnapping charge and that this charge was so inextricably
3. Section 3501 Claim
Hall next argues that his custodial statement was inadmissible under
A confession is voluntary if, “under the ‘totality of the circumstances,’ the statement is the product of the accused‘s ‘free and rational choice.‘” United States v. Doucette, 979 F.2d 1042, 1045 (5th Cir. 1992) (quoting United States v. Rogers, 906 F.2d 189, 190 (5th Cir. 1990)).
(1) the time elapsing between arrest and arraignment of the defendant making the confession, if it was made after arrest and before arraignment, (2) whether such defendant knew the nature of the offense with which he was charged or of which he was suspected at the time of making the confession, (3) whether or not such defendant was advised or knew that he was not required to make any statement and that any such statement could be used against him, (4) whether or not such defendant had been advised prior to questioning of his right to the assistance of counsel; and (5) whether or not such defendant was without the assistance of counsel when questioned and when giving such confession.
As the district court concluded, Hall was arraigned on the charge of aggravated kidnapping by a Texas judge before he made his incriminating custodial statements to Floyd and Ford.19 Further, Hall was advised of his right not to make a statement and his right to have the assistance of counsel on numerous occasions before he gave his statement. While Hall was not in the presence of an attorney when he actually made his statement, he had at least had an opportunity to consult with an attorney prior to making it. We acknowledge that Hall may not have been aware of the gravity of the offense of which he was suspected at the time of his statement, given that it is unclear whether he was aware that Lisa Rene‘s body had been discovered by the time he made his statement. However, considering that Hall actually
Hall next claims that his confession was involuntary under
In any criminal prosecution by the United States or by the District of Columbia, a confession made or given by а person who is a defendant therein, while such person was under arrest or other detention in the custody of any law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement agency, shall not be inadmissible solely because of delay in bringing such person before a magistrate or other officer empowered to commit persons charged with offenses against the laws of the United States or of the District of Columbia if such confession is found by the trial judge to have been made voluntarily and if the weight to be given the confession is left to the jury and if such confession was made or given by such person within six hours immediately following his arrest or other detention: Provided, That the time limitation contained in this subsection shall not apply in any case in which the delay in bringing such person before such magistrate or other officer beyond such six-hour period is found by the trial judge to be reasonable considering the means of transportation and the distance to be traveled to the nearest available such magistrate or other officer.
We note as an initial matter that this court has rejected
While
Section 3501(c) can be construed to mean that the only confessions obtained more than six hours after arrest that can be admitted are those that were elicited during the time necessary for travel to the magistrate, we [conclude] . . . that Congress did not intend to legislate any such arbitrary edict. We believe the correct interpretation to be that Congress established six hours as a minimum period which would pass muster. If, therefore, a longer delay occurs, it merely constitutes another factor to be considered by the trial judge in determining voluntariness.
Id. at 1341; see also United States v. Perez-Bustamante, 963 F.2d 48 (5th Cir. 1992). More to the point, however, is the fact that
In United States v. Alvarez-Sanchez, 511 U.S. 350 (1994), the Supreme Court held that, “[a]s long as a person is arrested and held only on state charges by state or local authorities, the provisions of
Clearly, the terms of [
§ 3501(c) ] can apply only when there is some “delay” in presentment. Because “delay” is not defined in the statute, we must construe the term “in accordance with its ordinary or natural meaning.” FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471, 476 (1994). To delay is “[t]o postpone until a later time” or to “put off an action“; a delay is a “postponement.” American Heritage Dictionary 493 (3d ed. 1992). The term presumes an obligation to act. Thus, there can be no “delay” in bringing a person before a federal magistrate until, at a minimum, there is some obligation to bring the person before such a judicial officer in the first place. Plainly, a duty to present a person to a federal magistrate does not arise until the person has been arrested for a federal offense.See Fed. Rule Crim. Proc. 5(a) (requiring initialappearance before a federal magistrate). Until a person is arrested or detained for a federal crime, there is no duty, obligation, or reason to bring him before a judicial officer “empowered to commit рersons charged with offenses against the laws of the United States,” and therefore, no “delay” under § 3501(c) can occur.
Id. at 357-58; see also United States v. Romano, 482 F.2d 1183 (5th Cir. 1973) (providing that
At the time of his confession, Hall was in custody on state charges. He surrendered to Arkansas law-enforcement authorities in response to the Texas warrant, and Arkansas authorities detained him on the basis that probable cause existed to believe that he committed the crime described in that warrant. The Texas municipal court judge arraigned him solely on the state charge. The fact that a federal complaint and warrant had been issued charging Hall with flight from prosecution at the time that he was taken into custody does not change the fact that Hall was in custody solely on state charges. See United States v. Watson, 591 F.2d 1058, 1062 (5th Cir. 1979) (holding that
Hall argues, however, that federal and state authorities were working in tandem in investigating Hall and that the circumstances surrounding his arrest and detention thus constitute an exception to the general rule that
[a]lthough we think proper application of
§ 3501(c) will be as straightforward in most cases as it is here, the parties identify one presumably rare scenario that might present some potential for confusion; namely, the situation that would arise if state or local authorities, acting in collusion with federal officers, were to arrest and detain someone in order to allow the federal agents to interrogate him in violation of his right to a prompt federal presentment. Long before the enactment of§ 3501 , we held that a confession obtained during such a period of detention must be suppressed if the defendant could demonstrate the existence of improper collaboration between federal and state or local officers.
Alvarez-Sanchez, 511 U.S. at 359. The record reveals no such improper collaboration in this case. As the district court concluded, “[t]here is little, if any, evidence to suggest that [Hall] was being held by the state solely to permit in-custody interrogation by federal officials without compliance with
We see no reason to disturb the district court‘s factual
L. Additional Review Under § 3595(a)
In addition to imposing a duty upon the court of appeals to “address all substantive and procedural issues raised on the appeal of a sentence of death,” the FDPA also imposes a duty upon this court to “consider whether the sentence of death was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor and whether the evidence supports the special finding of a[] [statutory] aggravating factor.”
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court‘s judgment of conviction and sentence.
Notes
Hall‘s proffered statement in allocution was as follows:
I want to apologize to my family and ask them to forgive me, and I hope somehow they can forgive me. I want to apologize to Lisa Rene‘s family and ask them to forgive me, even though I know that there is no possible way they can forgive me and I understand that. I want to ask God to forgive me, however, I question in my own mind whether even God can forgive me.
With respect to the function of a state reviewing court in determining whether the sentence can be upheld despite the use of an improper aggravating factor, the difference between a weighing State and a nonweighing State is not one of “semantics,” . . . but of critical importance. In a nonweighing State, so long as the sentencing body finds at least one valid aggravating factor, the fact that it also finds an invalid aggravating factor does not infect the formal process of deciding whether death is an appropriate penalty. Assuming a determination by the state appellate court that the invalid factor would not have made a difference to the jury‘s determination, there is no constitutionаl violation resulting from the introduction of the invalid factor in an earlier stage of the proceedings. But when the sentencing body is told to weigh an invalid factor in its decision, a reviewing court may not assume it would have made no difference if the thumb had been removed from death‘s side of the scale.Id. at 231-32. Hall‘s reliance upon this language, of course, begs the question of whether the fact that the death occurred during the course of a kidnapping is an “invalid factor.” As indicated supra, we have concluded that the fact that the death was intentionally committed during the course of a kidnapping is a factor that may justify imposition of the death penalty. We likewise conclude that it is a factor that the jury may properly weigh against mitigating factors in determining whether the death penalty constitutes an appropriate punishment in a particular case.
- (1) the defendant . . . did not have a significant prior criminal record [found by six jurors];
- (2) the defendant‘s capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the defendant‘s conduct or to conform to the requirements of the law was significantly impaired, regardless of whether the capacity was so impaired as to constitute a defense to the charge [found by two jurors];
- (3) the defendant committed the offense under severe mental or emotional disturbance [found by one juror];
- (4) the defendant was subjected to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse as a child (and was deprived of sufficient parental protection that he needed) [found by four jurors];
- (5) the defendant served his country well in Desert Storm, Grenada, and for 22 years in the United States Army [found by eight jurors];
- (6) the defendant is likely to be a well-behaved inmate [found by three jurors];
- (7) the defendant is remorseful for the crime he committed [found by four jurors];
- (8) the defendant‘s daughter will be harmed by the emotional trauma of her father‘s execution [found by nine jurors];
- (9) the defendant was under unusual and substantial internally generated duress and stress at the time of the offense [found by three jurors];
- (10) the defendant suffered from numerous neurological or psychological disorders at the time of the offense [found by one juror].